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- Chairman of the Financial Services Committee said that the SEC Chair Gary Gensler will have to testify next month over his recent rulemaking in the crypto space.
- Several crypto enthusiasts have recently shared that Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is taking shape once again in the crypto space.
Since the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX in November 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been going hammer and tongs after crypto firms with Chairman Gary Gensler in the driving seat. The recent SEC action is getting popular as Operation Choke Point 2.0 and has become more apparent.
The US SEC has shied away from catching hold of some of the biggest players in the crypto space. Last week, the securities regulator issued a Wells Notice to crypto exchange Coinbase stating that some digital assets listed on the platform violate US securities laws.
However, the US congress has started keeping a watch on the SEC’s action as the oversight was almost nil so far. Patrick McHenry, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, recently disclosed that the SEC chair Gary Gensler will need to testify before the US Congress for the first time on April 18 in order to justify his recent actions.
The US Financial Services Committee looks after the entire financial services industry which includes securities, banking, as well as crypto assets. Patrick Henry, the Republican Senate member from North Carolina took office this year in 2023.
In January 2023, Henry also established the Digital Assets Subcommittee while addressing the gap in the handling of crypto issues by the House Financial Services Committee. Representative French Hill (Republican) is currently chairing the Digital Assets Subcommittee while representative Warren Davidson (Republican) is his deputy.
Both of them are well-known for their pro-crypto stand. As the development unrolled, Warren Davidson, who’s one of the biggest critics of Gary Gensler tweeted to start the #FireGary movement.
Let’s make the #FireGary movement bipartisan! https://t.co/0EVUeMxE9x
— Warren Davidson 🇺🇸 (@WarrenDavidson) March 27, 2023
Oversight on US SEC
Patrick McHenry, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, is willing to make the oversight of the SEC an important part of his chairmanship. He also said that he’s willing to give Gensler more congressional oversight than in the past.
McHenry said that the hearing next month shall provide more insight and clarity into Gensler’s rulemaking approach to digital assets. He added:
This will be our first oversight hearing of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This will be about his rulemaking and his approach to digital assets. It will have a large general oversight over the SEC. In terms of policy, [this will be]a serious approach in terms of us laying down […] a regulatory sphere for digital assets.
Besides, he further added that they would be closely looking at the issue of regulation of digital assets in the upcoming months. “I’m glad that we were able to announce that and get that going. This will be the first of many regulatory hearings throughout the summer,” the chairman continued.
Crypto lawyers have pointed out how Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is taking shape in the crypto space once again. Law firm Cooper & Kirk which sued some of the top regulators including the Fed, during Operation Chokepoint 1.0 back in 2014, has published a fresh report.
The law firm that litigated the original Operation Chokepoint case in 2014 just published a whitepaper explaining how the banking regulators are using the same unlawful threats and pressure tactics against the crypto industry in 2023.
This is a must read:https://t.co/Ko0lodmqZz
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) March 28, 2023
